


Something Stupid

by glowinghorizons



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blind Date, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 08:11:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,811
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5198585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glowinghorizons/pseuds/glowinghorizons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I… well, you see… I sort of… I sort of gave my boss the impression that I was seeing someone. You. The someone that I’m seeing would be you.” The Doctor automatically flinched, anticipating screeches of dissent from the blonde sitting opposite him.</p>
<p>“I…” Rose made an adorable face in her confusion (no, don’t think about that, not right now), “I’m sorry, what?”</p>
<p>The Doctor sighed, “I’m stupid. I know it. I was sort of not paying attention to my boss earlier and when she asked me what I was doing tonight I said I had a date, and she must have asked me if I was bringing you to the party because the next thing I know, she’s going on about how she can’t wait to meet you.”</p>
<p>“She thinks I’m your girlfriend, then?" </p>
<p>"I suppose she does, yes.”</p>
<p>or: Donna thinks she's just setting up two of her friends, but the Doctor takes the opportunity to tell everyone he works with that he's been seeing someone for months.  At a fancy party, they put their fake relationship to the test, but how fake is it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something Stupid

**Author's Note:**

> Fake/Pretend Relationships are my favorite trope of all time. This has been a work in progress on my Tumblr for a long time, and I've decided to finally finish it. The name of this fic is inspired by the song of the same name by Frank Sinatra. 
> 
> The first couple chapters are pretty short, but the last few will be longer, because I have no self control.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid…” He’s pacing, a hand ruffling his already mussed hair.

“Can you please sit down?” Jack’s exasperated voice sounds loud in the quiet of the room, and the Doctor halts momentarily and spins to face his friend.

“This is all your fault, you know!”

The incredulous look on Jack’s face is one that doesn’t appear there often, “How do you figure?!”

“She was never supposed to hear that! She was supposed to be on her merry way and none of this was supposed to happen, and  _you,"_ he jabs a finger at Jack, "you brought her here.”

“I beg your unbelievable pardon, but  _you_ asked me to make sure she didn’t leave, because you had something to  _say,_ ” He gesticulates wildly, adopting the Doctor’s habit of being dramatic. _  
_

“Yes!” The Doctor flings his arms out, “I had something to say, but she was never supposed to  _hear_  it!” 

“I can’t listen to this. You better call her.” Jack fixes him with a look and leaves the room, leaving the Doctor standing in the middle of his hotel room with a blank look on his face.

* * *

 

**10 days earlier**

Rose Tyler was dreading every second of her upcoming date. A colleague had set them up, and while she normally welcomed any attempt to meet someone new (she loved socializing, Rose did), she was less than thrilled with Donna’s description of her date.

“What do you mean his name is ‘The Doctor’?”

“He goes by a title, I don’t know the whole story. Just… just ignore that part, and focus on the part where I tell you that he’s a bit pretty.”

“A bit?”

“More than a bit. Come on Rose, you haven’t been out in ages. This will be perfect.”

So Rose found herself in a small cafe a few blocks from her flat, waiting on the prestigious Doctor. She absently sipped from her tea as she gazed out the window, and tried to quell the nerves fluttering in her stomach. She had no reason to be nervous - it was just a blind date! She’d done it dozens of times before. 

However, she’d never been out with a scientist before, and one that was a self-proclaimed (and proclaimed by many, many others) genius. The nerves started again when she wondered what on earth they could possibly have in common. Surely he was much more intelligent than she was. 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a flash of brown sitting in front of her, and she looked up, startled, to see a man sitting across from her, clad in a brown pinstriped suit, messy brown hair and black rimmed glasses, perusing a menu. “The banana milkshakes here are brilliant, definitely recommend that.”

“Banana…” Rose blinked, “I’m sorry, are you the Doctor?”

He glanced at her, and seemingly did a double take, his mouth falling open slightly, before he shut it quickly, swallowing. “Oh! Yes. The Doctor. That’s me! I should have started with that, shouldn’t I have? Rude, that’s me as well.” He held out his hand, “Hello, I’m the Doctor.” He grinned at her, and her brain was rapidly trying to catch up with his babbling.

“I’m Rose,” she said, slipping her hand into his. “Rose Tyler.”

.

.

.

Rose Tyler. The name sounded lovely to his ears and as he glanced at her once more while she was looking over the menu, he didn’t understand why Donna would have left out the fact that Miss Rose Tyler was lovely, really,  _really_  lovely. He swallowed again, and forced his gaze away from her face, lest she notice he was ogling her.

When he had entered the cafe earlier, he had seen a head of blonde hair, the only one in the entire cafe, and had sat down without much preamble. He didn’t even think to introduce himself, and when he had finally looked at her to do that, he had found himself at a momentary loss for words. He’s met many attractive women in his life, but he didn’t think he’d ever felt that movie moment  _wow_  in his life until five minutes ago.

He grinned when she told the waitress they’d like two banana smoothies, and she ordered a basket of chips for two. “Aren’t I supposed to be the one ordering for you?” He raised an eyebrow at her, a small smile pulling at his lips.

“You suggested the shakes,” she shrugged, “figured I’d suggest dinner.” She smiled back at him, the tip of her tongue peeking through her teeth and his heart did some sort of… flip thing in his chest, and he wondered briefly if he wasn’t having a mild heart attack.

“So, Doctor, what is it you do, exactly?” She asked, propping her chin on her palm. He felt unexpectedly nervous now that her attention was focused solely on him, and he loosened the paisley print tie that was around his neck.

“I’m a scientist. I do a bit of everything, really. I’ve worked for a lot of people, traveled at a lot of places, but I mostly teach now. That’s what I love the most – showing people new things and seeing their face when they learn something." 

She smiled at him, her eyes bright with understanding, and he felt something he hadn’t in a very long time - a connection.

.

.

.

He was a bit pretty, wasn’t he? Rose snuck one more glance at him while he inspected the plate of chips in between them on the small table ("always have to be careful about what you eat, Rose!”) and she had to admit, she liked what she saw.

He was much nicer than she had expected him to be, which she supposed wasn’t very fair of her. Just because her previous experiences with very educated people hadn’t been the best didn’t mean she needed to paint him with the same brush. He had a great smile, and she absolutely appreciated his hair - some really great hair, if she was being honest. His eyes were kind and brown, and constantly sparkling with excitement and humor, as though he had a joke that he was just dying to tell. 

She was almost embarrassed at how quickly she felt herself growing attracted to him, but she was too busy being relieved about it to care. It had been a long time since she had a successful date, much less a blind date. She’d have to remember to thank Donna the next time she saw her.

“Well Rose Tyler,” he said, and she liked it, the way he said her full name every time he talked to her, “these are quite possibly the best chips I’ve ever had.”

“I told you!” She crowed, “It’s the vinegar, I’m tellin’ ya.”

“The company might have something to do with it, as well.” He said, his voice lower and quieter, his eyes sparkling as she met his gaze. She blushed, and averted her eyes, taking a sip of her milkshake.

“I was a little worried,” she confessed, “Usually when Donna sets me up it’s these…” she waved her hand around, “ _professionals_.” She scrunched her nose in disgust and he laughed.

“I hate professionals!" 

She rolled her eyes, "C'mon, you know the type. Married to the job, think they’re better than everyone else. I had a date with a bloke once who not only answered the phone during dinner six times, but strongly encouraged me to,” she used air quotes, “spruce my resume.”

The Doctor almost spit out his shake, “He asked for your resume at dinner?!”

Rose giggled, “Not only did he ask for it, but when I didn’t have one, he was rather disappointed. Couldn’t tell if he wanted to date me, or interview me!”

“I’ll have you know that not all 'professionals’ are like that, Rose.” He said, and she nodded.

“I know, I know. I’m glad you’re not.”

He looked at her for a long moment, and she kept eye contact, feeling something undefinable pass between them. “Rose?”

“Hm?” She spoke softly, not wanting to do anything to disrupt the nice moment they were having.

“Would you mind terribly if I asked you a favor?”

“A favor? What do you mean?”

The Doctor scratched the back of his neck and wracked his brains for a way to ask her this question without coming off as either a complete idiot or like he was making assumptions about what was happening here. “I teach at the University up the road.”

She blinked, “Yes, you’ve said. What does that have to do with me?”

“I’m really terrible at these sorts of things,” he said as way of an apology and ran a hand through his hair, smiling sheepishly at her.

She smiled gently and placed her hand atop his on the table. “It’s okay, just spit it out!” She grinned then, and he suddenly found the confidence he was lacking a moment ago.

“Okay, here’s the thing. There’s a work party coming up this weekend, and it’s a really big to-do. Lots of important people talking about important things, and it is expected that everyone comes with their significant other.”

Rose narrowed her eyes playfully, “Go on…”

The Doctor smirked, “Since I am without a significant other, I wondered if… I wondered if youwouldgowithme.” He breathed out the last sentence in a rush, and froze, waiting for her answer.

“Are you asking me on a date?” Rose grinned again, and wow, it was really getting hot in this cafe, wasn’t it?

“I… well, you see… I sort of… I sort of gave my boss the impression that I was seeing someone. You. The someone that I’m seeing would be you.” The Doctor automatically flinched, anticipating screeches of dissent from the blonde sitting opposite him.

“I…” Rose made an adorable face in her confusion (no, don’t think about that, not right now), “I’m sorry, what?”

The Doctor sighed, “I’m stupid. I know it. I was sort of not paying attention to my boss earlier and when she asked me what I was doing tonight I said I had a date, and she must have asked me if I was bringing you to the party because the next thing I know, she’s going on about how she can’t wait to meet you.”

“She thinks I’m your girlfriend, then?" 

"I suppose she does, yes.”

Rose was quiet for a long minute and the Doctor’s insides were twisting themselves into knots. He genuinely liked Rose, and didn’t want her to hate him for doing this. It was just like him, though, to meet a complete stranger and already have dragged her into one of his messes.

“What exactly would I have to do during this party?” Rose asked, and the Doctor’s eyes snapped to hers.

“Wha-, nothing! I mean, nothing out of the ordinary. And by ordinary I mean you’d just have to be… there, I suppose. Meet my boss, meet the people I work with, you know. I…” The Doctor trailed off, then took Rose’s hand. “You don’t have to do this, you know.” He smiled at her, “I’d love if you did, of course, but you don’t have to. I’ll figure something out, some way to get out of this mess.”

Rose seemed to be reaching some sort of conclusion, and the Doctor watched her face closely as she tightened her grip on his fingers slightly. “A work party, yeah? Sounds pretty boring, although I suppose it would be better with two…” She grinned that smile that the Doctor was quickly learning was bad for his heart, and he beamed at her.

“Really? Oh, Rose, thank you! You won’t regret this, I promise. Well, I won’t promise that. It probably will be very boring. It’s on a Sunday, and Sundays are always boring. Always hated Sundays, me.”

“You’re a bit mad, aren’t you?” Rose laughed, and the Doctor grinned and winked.

.

.

.

Rose listened to the Doctor babble on about this party they would be going to, and some of the people they were going to meet, and she found that she was rather looking forward to it. Obviously there would likely be some awkward moments while she and the Doctor pretended to be a couple, but she was quickly growing to enjoy the Doctor’s company and was looking forward to spending the day with him. It sure beats staying home on the weekends like she usually did these days.

Oh, but would Donna have a fit about this! Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes just thinking about it.

“… and my boss, Martha, she-”

“Wait, Martha Jones?” Rose interrupted the Doctor mid-babble.

He had a slight frown on his face, “That’s the one, why, do you know her?”

“If we’re talking about the same person, then she’s dating one of my oldest friends.”

“That… that could be a problem. It would be a problem, right?” The Doctor looked worried. Rose didn’t think Mickey would say anything to Martha about how Rose had been single until a few hours ago, but she also wouldn’t put it past him.

“No, it should be fine. I trust him. For all he knows I’ve been dating you for ages and been keeping it secret. I’m sure he’ll play along.”

The Doctor relaxed visibly, but still had a frown painted on his face. “Maybe this isn’t a good idea. I didn’t realize we had friends in common… that could muck everything up.”

“Hey, it’ll be fine. We just have to act the part, yeah, and make everyone believe it.”

A small smile quirked his lips as he met her gaze. “Could turn out to be quite the adventure… are you ready for that, Rose Tyler?”

Rose found that she quite liked the sound of her name on his lips, “Oh, I was born ready, Doctor,” she said with mock seriousness.

He grinned that manic grin that she was beginning to love, threw some money down on their table, and stood, grabbing Rose’s hand in the process. “Well then, allonsy!”

.

.

.

The Doctor hadn’t a clue where they were going, but he found that sitting still for too long was not a skill he had acquired over the course of his life. He wasn’t quite ready to go home yet, and he hoped Rose wasn’t either. He thought from the grip she had on his hand that he was right in his assumption, but one could never be too sure. With this thought in mind, he skidded to a stop, causing Rose to nearly crash into his back. At the last second, he tugged on the hand he was holding and swung her around so she stopped in front of him, breathless, but with a smile on her face.

“Why did we stop?” She asked, and he furrowed his brow.

“I thought you might be tired. Or that you might want to go home. I did drag you out of there without any explanation, after all.”

“No! This is… I just…” she squeezed his hand, “I haven’t run like that since I was a teenager!” She laughed then, a light laugh that came bubbling out of her throat and seemed to land somewhere near his heart. He shook himself mentally. Getting attached just wouldn’t do, not with Rose. They were pretending, that’s all it was. It wouldn’t be prudent to trick himself into believing that maybe she was feeling the same way he was. They’d only known each other for a few hours!

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his mobile, and handed it to Rose. “Here, put your number in. I’ll ring you if I can think of anything else you’ll need to know before the party.”

Rose took the phone from him and he watched her carefully as she tapped the keys and handed it back to him. “What time should I expect you on Sunday?” She asked.

“Oh, I’d say about seven? Well, seven-thirty. Depends on where you live, Rose Tyler!”

Rose blushed, “I suppose that would be an important detail to leave out, wouldn’t it. I live in the same neighborhood as the cafe we met at today. That block of flats right on the corner? Third floor, flat number 310.”

“Why don’t you show me?” The Doctor asked and then immediately wanted to be swallowed up by a black hole for the look on Rose’s face. “No! I mean, why don’t I walk you home! That way I can see for myself. Just to be a gentleman, you understand. No funny business. Not me, no. I have manners, despite all evidence to the contrary.”

“Doctor,” Rose put her free hand on his arm, “It’s okay. Come on, then!” She gripped the hand she still held tighter and began to pull him back in the direction they had come from. 

Running with Rose Tyler, he thought, could quickly become his new favorite thing.

He was in trouble.

**Author's Note:**

> I've posted the first few parts of this on my Tumblr, @dreamingundone. You can read it there, or stay tuned for more! The rest of the parts should be up fairly quickly. Please leave a comment if you liked it!


End file.
